The weather's nice today... you just need to get above the clouds..

Imagine driving along a twisty, turny country road that snakes up and down a mountain... in the Italian countryside. Well, that's what I did with my Christmas vacation. Oh, and I got blessed by the Pope (aka the big man) himself in St. Peter's Square. that was pretty cool too.

What I just put describes only a snippet of the interesting experiences I have had so far in my travels. I have got to say that they've all been worth it - every single one. perhaps the only part that has been better (or rather made everything that much more memorable) has been the people...

The people add the spice and flavour to an already amazing and tantalizing foreign recipe. From the old man grumbling about having to move his car, to the Belgian woman laughing about how stupid her countrymen are, to the french physiootherapist willing to take me in after only a 5 min conversation, to the British barkeep who settled down in Perguia, central Italy (of all places) after having served in the army for 9 years and qualified to become an engineer.... seeing things + taling to people = solid experience. I think you would agree that this formula is so simple yet so true.

One thing you should think much about when traveling, Ive decided, should you stay in hostels or with people who actually live there? There are ups and downs to both - I think its one of those things everyone should figure out for themselves... Ill give you more lessons and questions to ponder for your own travels as I think of them. Until then, read a book about the place you want to visit. That was traveling tip #1 I never followed, haha.

Since arriving back in Orte from Brussels (and reuniting with Britt), we spent Christmas eve and day in the city (pics to come shortly!) afterwhich we did some intra-Umbria daytripping. We saw terni, perugia and orvieto. All very interesting, authentic places. Very rustic and Italian... you would never believe where and how people park their cars! Moreover, you;d be very surprised at the confluence between old and new, traditional and modern. If you're from somewhere like Canada, very quickly you realize how young, brash, frivolous and vain we NAers can be... why not just slow down and walk around once in a while? Maybe because we don't have hundreds, sometimes thousands of years of old ruins to pass by on a daily basis.... but my thoughts wander.

Britt and I are nearing the end of our time in Orte. the family whose place we are staying at will be returning on the 2/3. With their return, we will depart. To where? We'll let you know that as soon as we do...:)

Toodles,

Steve (and Britt)

A non-update...

Not too much to this post. I thought i would be able to bluetooth photos/videos from my phone to the PC but alas, I was wrong. Will need cable to be able to upload all the interesting clips and pics I've took thus far. No worries - will try to do before the 25th.

Oh - one quick thing. I had my first couchsurfing experience on Saturday/Sunday! Quite enjoyable. I recommend you sign up if you have not already - even if it's just to host other people/travelers. Also a great way for all you would-be travelers to learn more about "out there" without actually going "out there". Also a unique way to promote global citizenship.

In other news... Steven and Britt are staying here for Christmas Eve! Check out how close it is to Vatican City!

Toodles for now!

Steve

From Brussels with Love...

Hi all.

I am blogging from Brussels right now... as unamazing as that might sound. It is a nice but cold place - of course it had to snow the moment I got here! To let you know, Britt is safe and sound back in Rome. She's still a nanny. One interesting development about Britt: she is interested in going to cooking school when returning to Canada!

As for me, I cannot really say why I decided to come to Belgium... I thought it would be neat to eat a real Bruxelles waffle (they don't call it a "Belgian waffle" here apparently...?), see the peeing boy (like most other people I was pretty unimpressed by its size... and I mean the boy, not certain parts of it) and also see if the country is really going to split apart (which it isn't apparently). So now I'm sitting in Benoits' (x2) apartment, trying to interpret a french conversation between Benoit #1 and Pietro - his Italian friend. haha, C'est la vie!

I will write a more complete update before I leave to go back to Rome - check back Monday for more!

Steve

In Roma!

In Orte. Not sure where in Italy. Cold and starving. Send Money. Scared and alone...

Joking!!!

Steve found me... reunited! and it feels so good!!!!!!! haha you will have that song stuck in your head all day now. You're welcome!

Britt and Steve

Two stories... divided... yet connected

This post has a dual-update character. For unknown reasons, Britt is unable to access internet in order to update her blog... which is strange - since she updates facebook quite regularly. For shame no?

Update on Britt:

After getting to (around) Rome, and realizing small children are the devil incarnate (one in particular), Britt has continued to plod on with being a nanny. Not much is really known about her role on my end - all I hear about is how bad the kid is. Yes, she had to climb out of second story bedroom window... apparently this girl locked the door on her and the only way to escape was to do the impossible - tie a bed sheet to something and cliff-hanger it down the side of the house. The only other substantive pieces of information I have gotten from her are that she "misses me so so so so much" and that "pedro wants (me) to use his Honda 600cc Hornet bike when (I) get to Rome"... Stay tuned.

Update on Steve:

After eating my banana at the patisserie (?), I met up with Tesh Pantel - cool guy and london-ite extraordinaire. Meeting this guy made me realize just how uneducated and, as a consequence, unprepared I am for this journey of journeys. I made the mistake of calling people here European, attempted to pay for my battered fish and chips with euros, asked random people if they often said "cheerio", "wanker" and "sod" and, finally, laughed off jetlag completely ignorant to the fact that i would wake up 14 hours later as a result of it and, subsequently, miss my train. Now I'm sitting in St. Pancreas, waiting for the 1731 train to Paris after having paid a 15 pound change fee. Boo-urns. Hopefully it won't take me too long to find my way from Gare du Nord to Craig's place...

Some lessons learned:
- always set your alarm clock
- O2 appears to be the best carrier in the UK for int'l roaming rates - 10 p a text while I'm abroad to other abroad numbers!
- do not expect too many people to care about you.
- the pub is cheaper in London than almost anything else.
- THINK before spending any money - you never know.
- and i'm late again... shoot.... see you guys!

I made it!

Sitting in a patisserie on Great Eastern Street - I think like 112 if you want to google map it. It's sunny outside and London is bustling with activity. Their street signs suck. They have too many different terms - the train "terminates" at cockfuster, you can leave the station via the "way out", there is no stand behind yellow line, only "mind the gap". They have things like Piccadilly (what kind of world capital has something called that...?). Too many scooters - and they drive like maniacs. They also cram everyone into the underground like people are cattle... it's too much for a private space bubble-loving North American to bear.


Don't mention this to britt, however since landing in London i think I've spent the equivalent of $40 Canadian... she wouldn't have that at all....

Going to go meet up with Tesh and then find DFID - maybe I can score some schwag for my ID colleagues back in Ottawa...

Steve

Having Children... Need advice!

Don't worry - the title's not what you think it's about.

After a small run of bad (and just plain creepy) luck, Britt had to depart Sicily suddenly and is now somewhere outside of Rome. At least that's where I think she is.

Get this - in exchange for room and board at this new place, she has turned into a full-fledged domestic servant! She agreed to washing dishes, preparing lunch, ironing, taking care of the cat/dog/ponies and, surprisingly enough, taking care of her host couple's young daughter "Emilie".

That's right - Britt's a nanny!

She'll be doing this from now until Dec 21 or so. Can she do it? I hope she can - having a free place to stay over Christmas for the two of us would be sweet.

Alas, she has already run into troubles. I received a text message from her earlier this morning informing me that she "is never having children!!!" (the exclamation marks are hers). Now, I don't have too much information however I assume this is in response to having to deal with a very troublesome toddler.

Poor girl.

Wanna help!? Feel free to post advice for Britt on how to deal with raising children in the comments section!

Steve

And on a related note, check out this article from the globe and mail yesterday on the results of spineless parenting here.